Gun Review: The IWI Tavor SAR Bullpup

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One of the immutable laws of firearms is that if the Israelis make or design something, it is sure to be of high quality and reliability—absolutely drop-dead battlefield reliable. The IWI Tavor SAR is exactly that.

However, one of my personal immutable laws of firearms is that if I don’t like a particular firearm, I will tell you how I feel and why I feel that way. I don’t like the Tavor.

Easy to handle, takes time to love. The author found that the bullpup design required some getting used to while testing it at the range.

It isn’t for me, but it might be just the rifle you are looking for.I will start by saying that I am a traditional kind of guy when it comes to firearms, particularly long guns. They have to feel and point right for me, and operate in a “me friendly” manner.

A short list of my preferred defensive shoulder arms is the Ithaca M37 Defense Gun 12-gauge pump with bead sight, the M1 Carbine, the M16 A1 rifle and the M4 Carbine. Why? They all point and swing well, and snap up to the shoulder easily.

All can be fired from the right or left shoulder without doing anything more than moving them there. The exception is the M16A1. It has no case deflector, but aftermarket deflectors can easily be attached to the carry handle.

IWI Tavor Review: Designed for Close Combat

After Israel was established in 1948, their military relied on a plethora of arms supplied to it by its allies, arms that included the M1 Garand, M1 Carbine and the M16.

Close-in warfare and warfare in open deserts taught them that these weapon systems might not be ideal for their combat missions, and that it might be wise to find something that met their military needs more precisely.

From 1972 until the 2009, the Israeli Military fielded the 5.56mm Galil, a highly modified AK-47 variant. The Galil has been in service for 40 years and has served well, but the Israelis thought they could do better.

They needed a 5.56mm weapon system that was more compact and maneuverable and ready to go at a moment’s notice. This time they built one of their own designs, the Tavor TAR-21. The Tavor SAR is the semiautomatic-only civilian legal variant of the TAR-21.

The SAR is different, radically different from most American combat rifles primarily because it is of bullpup configuration, where the action sits to the rear of the trigger assembly in the buttstock of the weapon.

This makes bullpup rifles much shorter than standard style combat rifles and outstanding for maneuvering in tight spaces, such as inside armored transport vehicles, aircraft, ships or tight hallways. That capability is the main reason for choosing a bullpup over conventional designs. Its compactness can improve the ability of soldier or a civilian in accomplishing their mission or defending home and property.

There has only been one bullpup rifle that I really liked—the FN PS90 Standard 5.7x28mm carbine. It shoulders well, is compact, drop-dead reliable, has zero recoil due to its cartridge and weight and is truly ambidextrous.

There is nothing to switch or change to enable the PS90 to be used by left-handed shooters. Its empties are ejected straight down. The magazine is removed from its top position by a central release, the safety switch is on both sides of the pistol grip, and the backup iron sights are mounted on the right and left side of the receiver. It is in some of these areas that the SAR has a few issues that must be understood from the outset.

Every battle rifle ever made has characteristics that draw criticism. Look at the M16—even with 50 years of criticism, it is still our primary battle rifle and the most popular sporting rifle ever made. Before that we had the M14, which was too long and too heavy and couldn’t be fired controllably in full automatic mode.

The great M1 carbine, the handiest battle carbine ever fielded, was hampered by its relatively low-powered cartridge but still stayed in service for 40 or so years. Then there was the M1 Garand, the “greatest battle implement ever devised.” During WWII it was criticized for its eight-round en-bloc feeding system, but it served as long as the M1 Carbine. Every firearm designed for use in life and death situations has its issues and your appreciation of them depends on which issues you are willing to overlook and adapt to.

About Scott Wagner

Scott Wagner is a 32-year law enforcement veteran. Currently a police sergeant in Baltimore, Ohio, he spent 20 years with the Union County Ohio Sheriff's Office as a Reserve Deputy where he worked patrol, training and SWAT, and was the assistant SWAT team leader and a team sniper. Wagner has been a state-certified police firearms, fitness and defensive tactics instructor for 26 years, and has been a criminal justice professor and police academy commander for 20 years at a community college in the Midwest.
He is the author of the Gun Digest books, "Tactical Shotguns,", "Own the Night—A Guide to Tactical Lights and Laser Sights," and Survival Guns.

5 thoughts on “Gun Review: The IWI Tavor SAR Bullpup”

I’ve got a Tavor…usually run it with a YHM suppressor. It’s a great rifle….but, yes, it takes some getting used to…I usually run AR’s with the occasional AK. I love the compactness of it with the suppressor! The only issue I’ve had was some bad malfunctions, only with suppressor on… after tests I isolated it to Privey Partisan ammo….my guess is its too “hot”…causing double feeds and stovepipes….was NOT related to magazines…as I said I tested many ways to figure it out. No problems with any other ammo or mags. On a side note….GearHeadWorks is a guy making parts for the Tavor…he has a side cover that eliminates the gas venting in your face…if I can install it…anyone can. He also has a foregrip with flashlight mounting space…he does very good work. I too have had an issue with being unable to run it left handed…I’ve got a long face I guess….with a slight tilting of rifle issue can be resolved…I tried an aftermarket deflector…didn’t help. All in all…its a great, reliable rifle…just takes some getting used to a new manual of arms….btw…I get 2 moa groups easily with all types of ammo….usually using 62 grain PMC.

Despite the fact that Mr. Wagner tried to emphasize how UN-ambidextrous the Tavor is, he actually missed a couple of items on his list. So here we go:

1) You must buy a left handed bolt from IWI-US. The bolt is about $110. They used to send you the bolt. Now, they are afraid of headspace issues. So you need to send the rifle in to them to have them fit the new bolt. Figure $60 for insured shipping.

2) If you were lucky enough to get a bolt while they would still ship them to you, there is one extra step. You need to reverse the safety/selector from one side to the other. You could buy a second lever and have one on each side, but that would be another purchase. Also, then your trigger finger would have to go over the trigger finger side selector when its in the fire position.

3) Remember all those great conversion kits IWI is going to be coming out with? Right handed only.

4) I am a lefty. I wanted a 18″ gun, so I bought a RH gun and swapped bolts. Before I swapped bolts I tried to shoot it from my left shoulder. Brass did bounce off my face occasionally. But its worse. Out of a 20 round mag, 3 pieces of brass bounced off of my chin and BACK INTO the ejection port, jamming the gun.

With all that said, now that Timney and Geissele have triggers for it, it should be able to be made into a fine shooting gun with these caveats.

With that said, I still like my SCAR better. Part of it is familiarity, since it works just like an AR. But there is no denying that the Tavor has its plusses.

My 18″ Tavor is shorter than a 10″ AR15 SBR with a collapsed stock. Do some research, the terminal ballistics of .223 are MUCH better with an 18″ barrel vs a 10″ barrel.

Another thing. The author parrots the age old cliche about bullpups and bad triggers. In this case, there should be no corelation. The Tavor’s trigger works the sear through a connector that is in TENSION not compression. Go take a Ruger Mk 1,2,or 3 apart and you will see just such a connector. Nope. The Tavor has a crappy trigger, just because it has a crappy trigger. Geissele and Timney will prove that.

The Tavor would seem to be a natural fit for suppressor use, since its so short. But there’s another problem. The piston is pretty much right in front of your face. When shot with a suppressor, the longer pressure dwell time means that there is still pressure in the piston when it reaches the point in the cylinder where all the extra gas is dumped.

This vents significant gas right up under your face. 5 fast shots with a tavor with a suppressor on it and your eyes will be watering like you were dicing onions. No joke.

I first encountered the Tavor at Shootists Holiday 2013 at the NRA Whittington Center. There was someone on the firing line shooting this odd-looking bullpup, and he offered to let me try it. It didn’t occur to me at the time that this was a right-handed gun. I’m left-handed, and I’ve never been accused of having a tiny nose. In spite of that, I had a great time shooting the Tavor. It tends to eject cases slightly forward, anyway. I was so impressed, I ordered one, set up for a southpaw. I’ve been using it with an EOTech holographic sight. It is made to order for use as a “car gun,” since it can be handled like an oversized pistol.